Volume II Part 23 (1/2)
Sometimes, by looking at Toulon, Ville Tranche, Barcelona, and Roses; then running round Minorca, Majorca, Sardinia, and Corsica; and, two or three times, anchoring for a few days, and sending a s.h.i.+p to the last place for _onions_--which I find the best thing that can be given to seamen: having, always, good mutton for the sick; cattle, when we can get them; and plenty of fresh water. In the winter, it is the best plan to give half the allowance of grog instead of all wine.
”These things are for the commander in chief to look to; but, shut very nearly out from Spain, and only getting refreshments by stealth from other places, my command has been an arduous one.
”Cornwallis has great merit for his persevering cruize; but he has every thing sent him, we have nothing. We seem forgotten, by the great folks at home. Our men's minds, however, are always kept up, with the daily hopes of meeting the enemy. I send you, as a curiosity, an account of our deaths, and sent to the hospital, out of 6000 men. The fleet put to sea on the 18th of May 1803, and is still at sea; not a s.h.i.+p has been refitted, or recruited, excepting what has been done at sea, You will readily believe, that all this must have shaken me. My sight is getting very bad; but _I_ must not be sick, until after the French fleet is taken, Then, I shall soon hope to take you by the hand, and have farther recourse to your skill for my eye.
”I am always glad to hear good accounts of our dear Lady Hamilton.
That she is beloved, wherever she is known, does not surprise me; the contrary would, very much. I am sure, she feels most sincerely all your kindness.
”Believe me, for ever, my dear doctor, your much obliged friend,
Nelson and Bronte
Dr. Moseley, Chelsea Hospital.”
The account of the very few persons who had died, or been on the sick list, transmitted as a curiosity in the above letter, having been unfortunately lost by Dr. Moseley, their exact number cannot be ascertained.
Notwithstanding the opportunities given by Lord Nelson for the French fleet to depart from Toulon, either in the aggregate, by detached squadrons, or even single s.h.i.+ps, more than a year elapsed without any of them daring to quit the port. A solitary frigate, indeed, had occasionally appeared, but was soon chased back, and no stratagem seemed capable of inducing them to move. Among other contrivances to put them in motion, was that of sending two or three s.h.i.+ps of the line, with a single frigate, off the harbour, while the main body of the fleet remained at a considerable distance out of sight.
On the 23d of May 1804, Admiral Campbell in the Canopus, accompanied by Sir Richard Strachan in the Donegal, and the Amazon frigate, were detached by Lord Nelson thus to reconnoitre the enemy; and, after being some hours as near the mouth of the harbour as their batteries would allow, had the pleasure to behold three line of battle s.h.i.+ps, and three frigates, come out. Our s.h.i.+ps immediately tacked, in order to draw them from the land; but only went under an easy sail, so that they soon came within random-shot. When the enemy began to fire, the people of the Canopus were just sat down to dinner; which they quietly took, and then returned their fire: meaning, now, to bring them to close action, though so far superior. At this moment, however, two more s.h.i.+ps of the line, with another frigate, were perceived coming up fast to their a.s.sistance.
This was too great odds, so near their own batteries, and our small squadron were obliged to sheer off, under a press of sail. The French pursued them, for some time, still keeping the advantage of sailing; but, fearful of following too far, by the time they were five leagues from Toulon, they were recalled, about three quarters of an hour past three, by their signal-post from the hill, and all stood in again. At six, the rear-admiral saw our fleet to leeward, and joined them at half-past nine. They had heard, indistinctly, the firing: and the Leviathan was, in consequence, detached toward Toulon; but had not proceeded far, before our s.h.i.+ps were perceived on their return. This trivial affair was magnified, by the French admiral, Latouche Treville, who had so manfully ventured to pursue, a little way, with two eighty-fours, three seventy-fours, three forty-four frigates, and a corvette, our two eighty-fours and a single frigate, into a compleat discomfiture of the whole British fleet!
In the mean time, though Lord Nelson could in no way contrive effectually to decoy out the wary Gallic boasters, their commerce was not only distressed, but nearly annihilated; their privateers were taken; and the British flag waved, with proud defiance, throughout the Mediterranean, and was unopposed even on the coast of France. The city of London, sensible of what the experienced security of the British commerce owed to his lords.h.i.+p's services, though uninformed as to the precise mode in which the hero's operations were conducted, now transmitted to him, through the lord-mayor, their public thanks, voted on the 9th of April 1804, for his skill and perseverance in blockading the port of Toulon, so as to prevent the enemy's fleet in that quarter from putting to sea. This panegyric, however intended, was not at all relished by his lords.h.i.+p, who had never approved of the blockading system. ”Praise undeserved,” the hero probably thought, as well as the poet, ”is censure most severe.” Under some such impression, therefore, instantly on receiving the lord-mayor's letter, which unfortunately arrived the famous 1st of August, he wrote the following animated answer; spiritedly declining any acceptance of thanks from his fellow-citizens, in which his own services seemed so imperfectly recognized, and from which his brave coadjutors were unjustly excluded.
”Victory, August 1, 1804.
”MY LORD,
”This day, I am honoured with your lords.h.i.+p's letter of April 9th; transmitting me the resolutions of the corporation of London, thanking me as commanding the fleet blockading Toulon. I do a.s.sure your lords.h.i.+p, that there is not that man breathing, who sets a higher value upon the thanks of his fellow-citizens of London than myself; but I should feel as much ashamed to receive them, for a particular service marked in the resolution, if I felt that I did not come within that line of service, as I should feel hurt at having a great victory pa.s.sed over without notice.
”I beg to inform your lords.h.i.+p, that the port of Toulon has never been blockaded by me; quite the reverse. Every opportunity has been offered the enemy to put to sea: for, it is there that we hope to realize the hopes and expectations of our country; and, I trust that they will not be disappointed.
”Your lords.h.i.+p will judge of my feelings, upon seeing that all the junior flag-officers of other fleets, and even some of the captains, have received the thanks of the corporation of London, whilst the junior flag-officers of the Mediterranean fleet are entirely omitted. I own, that it has struck me very forcibly; for, where the information of the junior flag-officers and captains of other fleets was obtained, the same information could have been given of the flag-officers of this fleet and the captains; and it was my duty to state, that more able and zealous flag-officers and captains do not grace the British navy, than those I have the honour and happiness to command. It likewise appears, my lord, a most extraordinary circ.u.mstance, that Rear-Admiral Sir Richard Bickerton should have been, as second in command in the Mediterranean fleet, twice pa.s.sed over by the corporation of London: once, after the Egyptian expedition, when the first and third in command were thanked; and, now, again. Consciousness of high desert, instead of neglect, made the rear-admiral resolve to let the matter rest, until he could have an opportunity personally to call upon the lord-mayor to account for such an extraordinary omission; but, from this second omission, I owe it to that excellent officer, not to pa.s.s it by: and I do a.s.sure your lords.h.i.+p, that the constant, zealous, and cordial support, I have had, in my command, from both Rear-Admiral Sir Richard Bickerton and Rear-Admiral Campbell, has been such as calls forth all my thanks and admiration. We have shared together the constant attention of being more than fourteen months at sea, and are ready to share the dangers and glory of a day of battle; therefore, it is impossible that I can ever allow myself to be separated, in thanks, from such supporters.
”I have the honour to remain, with the very highest respect, your lords.h.i.+p's most faithful and obedient servant,
”Nelson and Bronte.”
”To the Right Honourable the Lord Mayor.”
During the remainder of the year, though there was scarcely a day which his lords.h.i.+p did not employ in endeavours to improve the natural supineness of his situation, very little occurred that calls for particular notice. A tedious detail of so many days of languid expectation, would be comparatively as oppressive to the reader, as the time thus pa.s.sed proved to the hero himself and the many brave men under his command. The destruction, however, of a number of vessels at La Vandour, in Hieres Bay, was performed with such a display of hardihood and address, that it should, at least, receive honourable mention. This can be in no way so well effected, as by transcribing Lord Nelson's own words on the occasion--”The importance of the service,” says his lords.h.i.+p, ”may be but little; but, the determined bravery of Lieutenants Thompson, Parker, Lumley, and Moore, and the petty officers, seamen, and marines, employed under them, could not be exceeded.” Nor must a small anecdote, highly honourable to our hero himself, fail also to be recorded. A seaman of his lords.h.i.+p's flag-s.h.i.+p, the Victory, on the 11th of September, fell from the forecastle into the sea; when Mr. Edward Flin, a volunteer, hearing the cry of a man overboard, instantly leaped from the quarter-deck, and had the good fortune to save him, notwithstanding the extreme darkness of the night, and the s.h.i.+p's being under sail. Next morning, Lord Nelson sent for Mr. Flin; and, presenting him with a lieutenant's commission, appointed him to the Bittern sloop of war, and afterwards procured the Admiralty's confirmation of his appointment.
The year 1805, rendered for ever too fatally memorable, commenced with presages of sufficiently active employ. The vast exertions of France for the augmentation of her navy, seemed to inspire a hope of being able, with the a.s.sistance of Spain, now forced into a war which that unfortunate court had so much reason to dread, at length, in the confidence of superior numbers, to hazard an encounter with the British fleet. This, however, was by no means to be rashly ventured: it would be necessary, they well knew, first to effect a junction of their united force; which was not easily accomplishable, while they were watched with such diligent circ.u.mspection by our indefatigable hero. The first operation, by which they sought to elude his vigilance, was that of risking a small squadron from Rochfort, under Rear-Admiral Missiessi; which, having got out un.o.bserved by our cruisers, arrived safely in the West Indies, with the double view of pillaging our colonies, and a.s.sisting to relieve St. Domingo. In the mean time, another, but far more powerful squadron, was ready to seize the first convenient opportunity of slipping out from Toulon.
On the 15th of January, while Lord Nelson, who had no desire to restrain the enemy from putting to sea, was busily engaged in observing the whole line of the Italian, French, and Spanish coasts, from Palermo, Leghorn, Toulon, and Barcelona, to the Straits of Gibraltar, and picking up all the French and Spanish vessels which his cruisers could meet with in that wide extent of ocean, Admiral Villeneuve, with a formidable squadron, consisting of eleven sail of the line and two frigates, suddenly pushed out of Toulon harbour. The Seahorse, Lord Nelson's look-out frigate, accordingly, narrowly escaped being taken: and the Venus sloop of ten guns, with his lords.h.i.+p's dispatches, was actually captured; having, however, previously thrown the dispatches overboard.
The Seahorse, instead of watching, at a safe distance, the course of the enemy's fleet, till their destination should have been in some degree ascertained, hastened to acquaint his lords.h.i.+p that they had sailed, without being able to afford the smallest additional information. This, indeed, was sufficient to call forth our hero's energies; but he was, at the same time, checked by the dread of proceeding in a wrong direction.
Strong circ.u.mstances induced his lords.h.i.+p to suppose, that another attack on Egypt might possibly be intended by this armament; which, indeed, was the current report. He deemed it likely, however, that they might first, as they formerly did at Malta, make an insiduous attempt on Sicily, in their way to the grand scene of their perfidious operations.
Actuated by the force of these reflections, Lord Nelson sent to apprize the Ottoman Porte, as well as the Commandant of Coron, that the Toulon fleet had sailed, having a considerable number of troops on board, with the probable intention of making a descent either on the Morea or on Egypt. He also dispatched, on the 25th, the Seahorse to Naples, and Le Tigre to Palermo, with similar intimations. Next day, the Phoebe joined the fleet; who had, on the l9th, seen a French eighty-gun s.h.i.+p get into Ajaccio, in Corsica, having lost all her topmasts, and being otherwise much crippled. This, it should seem, was the effect of that storm which, as it was afterwards found, had almost immediately occasioned the French armament's return to Toulon. His lords.h.i.+p, however, unaware of any such consequence, and deceived by the artful promulgation of false reports, kept running for Sicily; and, when in sight of Maritimo, sent Le Tigre, Captain Hallowell, to communicate with Sir John Acton at Palermo. Le Tigre joined next day, without any news whatever of the French. In the evening, the fleet pa.s.sed round Strombolo, which burnt very strongly all night; and, having left the Sophia to cruize three days off Strombolo for information, and sent the Bittern to Tunis, proceeded for the Faro of Messina. On the 30th, off the Faro, his lords.h.i.+p was joined by the Seahorse from Naples; where, also, nothing had been heard of the French.
At noon, on the 31st, having sent the Seahorse off Toulon, round Cape Corse, and Morgiana, to look into Elba, St. Fiorenzo, and Ajaccio, the fleet got through the Faro of Messina without any accident. On the 2d of February, they pa.s.sed Candia; being unable, from the state of the wind and weather, to make that island: and, on the 5th, sent forward the Anson, with letters to the Governor of Alexandria; to the British resident, Major Bissett; and to the pro-consul, Mr. Briggs. Next day, his lords.h.i.+p saw the Arab's Tower; and, on the 7th, at seven in the morning, came within sight of Alexandria, but there were no s.h.i.+ps in the port. His lords.h.i.+p immediately sent Captain Hallowell ash.o.r.e, with duplicates of his letters, the Anson being unable to get up. At three o'clock, Captain Hallowell returned. The Turks, who were very much alarmed at the appearance of the fleet, had heard nothing of the French; and were in no condition to defend this most important place from an attack, by surprise, of even five hundred men. Such is the shocking supineness of these people! The Turks and Mamelukes were, however, at war; the former being in possession of Grand Cairo, and the latter of Upper Egypt. Immediately on the receipt of this intelligence, by Captain Hallowell, the fleet bore up, and made sail for Malta.
On the 11th, the Phoebe having joined off Candia, was dispatched to Malta with orders. At daylight, on the 19th, his lords.h.i.+p saw Malta; and, at eight in the morning, communicated with Vallette. The Phoebe made the signal for no information; and, at nine, the fleet bore away for Maritimo. The Superb picked up a boat, and made the signal for intelligence from Malta: but his lords.h.i.+p would not stop; for he wanted, he said, no intelligence, but where to find the French fleet. His anxiety, therefore, may be easily imagined. It was little less, in fact, than what he had formerly suffered, on his first vain pursuit to Alexandria. By a vessel met with, in the afternoon, eight days from Barcelona, his lords.h.i.+p now learned that the French fleet had returned to Toulon; wanting, however, at that time, three sail of the line and a frigate. On the 28th, while employed in watering the fleet, at Palla, in Sardinia, a letter arrived from Captain Munday of the Hydra, dated February 17th, who had reconnoitred the French fleet in Toulon on the 12th, when it consisted of seventeen sail.
On Thursday, the 7th of March, a cartel s.h.i.+p came into the fleet, then at anchor under Tolaro in the Isle of Rouse, with Captain Layman, the officers, and crew, of the Raven brig, which was wrecked off Cadiz, on the night of January the 29th. The Captain General of Andalusia, Lord Nelson was told, had treated them with the greatest kindness--”Which,”